A complicated project has a new manager to oversee things and the city hopes management costs will be offset by engineering savings.
The Ames City Council on Tuesday gave Story Construction Co. a $1.25 million contract to help manage the building of a new recycling center. Ames-based Story Construction will serve as the construction manager and adviser for the Resource Recovery and Recycling Campus, also called R3C.
The projected total cost of the R3C project is $16.78 million.
What is a construction manager? A construction manager, or CMA, is like a project coordinator who helps the city during construction. Construction managers don’t actually do the building work themselves. Instead, they help plan the project, watch over the work, coordinate between different contractors and make sure everything runs smoothly. Think of them as the city’s helper who knows a lot about construction.
Why does the city need help? The recycling center project is complicated. City staff say workers need expert advice on how much things will cost, when work should happen and how to make sure the building gets done right. The CMA will be on the construction site every day to represent the city and solve problems as they come up.
Normally, the engineering company on the project (HDR Engineering from Omaha) would send someone to watch the construction site, but for this project, HDR will only visit occasionally. The construction manager will handle most of the daily oversight instead.
Lone bid: The city asked for companies to submit proposals in July, but only one company responded by the Aug. 7 deadline: Story Construction. A team of city officials reviewed the company’s proposal and its experience and knowledge for this project and met with representatives before determining the company was qualified for the job.
The contract: Story Construction’s basic fee is $801,640, which covers different parts of the work. The company will also provide general services during construction such as snow removal, fencing and portable toilets. These extra services will cost about $448,000, but the city will only pay for what is actually used. Story Construction won’t add any extra charges on top of these costs.
The total contract is worth $1,249,640.
Past experience: Story Construction is already working as the construction manager for the Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center.
How to pay for this: The city will use money from its fund balance to pay for this contract now. Later, when the city issues bonds to pay for the entire recycling center project, this money will be paid back to the fund balance. The city council approved this approach back in April.
Big picture: This contract is part of a larger effort to build a new recycling center for Ames. The project will include lots of paving for truck areas, parking lots and driving lanes. While the construction manager will oversee most of the work, the city’s public works department will inspect the paving work to save money.
The new recycling center will help the city handle waste and recycling for residents and businesses in Ames. Under the R3C plan, solid waste including recyclables and yard waste would be consolidated and transported to a landfill in Carroll for disposal. Recyclable materials would be forwarded to recyclers. Yard waste material would be either composted on site or hauled off-site for disposal.
The city has purchase agreements in place for approximately 9.5 acres along Freel Drive on which to build the R3C. Yet to be determined are project designs and tipping fees.
